Hardge Connections, LLC

December, 2007 - Chocolates on MY Pillow
Meet Tisha Littlejohn, Owner and Founder of Chocolates on MY Pillow.  I had the opportunity to interview this full time mother and full time career professional who realized she had more things to do than she had time for.  During her discussions with other busy professionals, she discovered that she was not alone.  It was then that she came up with the idea of offering personal assistance by the hour to those who needed help with their 'to do' list.

HC: What is the name of your business and where is it located?
TL: Chocolates on MY Pillow is located in Chicago, IL.

HC: Is this home-based or do you occupy commercial space?
TL: Home-based.

HC: What does your business do?
TL: We offer specialized services.  Our Personal Concierge department offers solutions to busy individuals and families by running errands and arranging services.  Another service we provide is Event Planning.  We coordinate large events as well as smaller events for the Chicago area community.  Our most active area is the Virtual Business Support department.  We cater to the needs of various business owners globally.  Virtual business support services enable the small business owner to work more on  their business than in their business.  Our clients ask for assistance in various areas from general office support to project management for marketing projects to web designing to postcard advertising.

HC: How many people are in your company?
TL: I have a few independent contractors.  I also outsource.  This enables me to handle large projects efficiently, expediently, and punctually.

HC: How long have you been operating this business?
TL: Just about 2 years.

HC: How did you start or acquire this business?
TL: After I had my daughter, I was having trouble balancing my work and personal life.  I bought a book on the subject that suggested utilizing the services of a personal concierge.  I was intrigued by the concept so I investigated.  My career background suggested I would be perfect in this industry.  The rest is history.

HC: What financial resources did you use to launch your own business?  (i.e., own cash involvement, loans, sponsors, grants, etc.)
TL: I planned for a year to switch from corporate worker to small business owner.  Knowing that the industry I was entering was new and a risk for loan providers, I decided to sacrifice and save.  I started my business with enough to cover six months of personal expenses and a little extra for business start-up expenses.  Also, my family took on a little more of our personal financial responsibilities to help.

HC: Is there any one person or event in your life that inspired you to start this business?
TL: I always wanted to be a business owner but my daughter had a lot to do with me making it an actuality.  I wanted her to grow up knowing the person I was meant to be.  She attends meetings with me sometimes and at age 2 she seems to know to be on her best behavior and to put on a sweet face.  She seals the deal with her cuteness.

HC: Are you still working at a job?  If yes, do you plan to let it go and when?  If no, when did you know it was time to let it go?
TL:  I'm a little different than most people.  I decided to step out on faith and from the beginning I've dedicated all my time to my new business.  As a personal concierge, one must be available during daytime hours and my daughter needed me in the evening so I really didn't have much of a choice.

HC: Do you have children and if so, do you incorporate them into your business in any way?
TL: Wow, I must be psychic.  I answered this question before it was was asked.  When my daughter is older I plan to teach her website design so that she can help with that area of my business.

HC: What prior jobs did you have or prior businesses were you a part of?
TL: Most of my prior jobs involved marketing and sales.  I also had a graphic design business 8 years ago.

HC: What's the toughest part of running your business?
TL: Educating people about the importance of utilizing the services I provide.  Compared to before, those who now use personal concierges have less stress, are happier, and spend more time doing what they like.  Our virtual business support services improve productivity for entrepreneurs and business owners.  Once they utilize the services Chocolates on MY Pillow have to offer they are impressed and pleased.  They become regular customers.  The challenge is convincing them to give us a try.

HC: What's next on the horizon for your business?
TL: I'm going to divide my personal concierge department/event planning and virtual business support/website design department into two separate businesses.  The concierge business which will keep the name Chocolates on MY Pillow, will start marketing its services to apartment complexes and condo associations.  My virtual business support business needs a makeover.  I will create a whole new identity for it.  I've already decided on a name but it's a secret for now.

HC: What words of wisdom or encouragement could you offer our readers who may be interested in starting a small business of their own?
TL: Make sure you research and plan as much as you can before opening your doors.  And if possible work at a job until your business is securely making a profit.  At times it's been a financial struggle for me.

HC: Has the Hardge Connections website or our business helped you in any way in terms of resources, tools, or a service we may have provided to you, etc?
TL: Yes.  There are some great resources on their website.

HC: The Hardge Connections website is rapidly growing into a financial resource center and personal and business empowerment.  Do you plan to use the Hardge Connections website in the future as one of your 'go to' resources and in what way, if any, do you feel it could help your business?
TL: I'd like to establish a link exchange and set up a referral based relationship with Hardge Connections.

HC: Do you have some further input that you would like to add in respect to your personality and/or the business as a whole?
TL: Our organizational culture is based on integrity, creative solutions and keeping promises.  We take pride in the elite care of clients and exceeding customer expectation.  I'm easy to work with and I always give a little extra than expected.

HC: Is there anyone you want to publicly thank?
TL: The special person in my life and my daughter's father, Mark Guthrie, and my little girl Yeva Littlejohn-Guthrie.